The Lights of Zetar (episode)
At planetoid Memory Alpha, an Enterprise crew member's body is taken over by mysterious energy life-forms. Summary Teaser The ''Enterprise'' has been assigned to ferry Lieutenant Mira Romaine to Memory Alpha, a planetoid that serves as central library of the Federation. Romaine's task is to transfer new equipment to the facility. During the voyage, Scotty and Mira spend a good deal of time together and become romantically involved. During the journey, the Enterprise detects a strange energy storm on a course to the planetoid. Spock concludes that, given the storm's superluminal speed, it cannot be a natural phenomenon. The Enterprise intercepts the storm which bypasses the shields and through hull. Everyone on the ship experiences some form of an "attack". Lieutenant Romaine is the one affected the most by the experience. Act One The exposure to the storm affects the nervous systems of the crew, and Lieutenant Romaine faints from the effect. The storm continues to head for Memory Alpha, and engulfs the planetoid. Beaming down to investigate the damage, the Enterprise crew discovers the Memory Alpha staff have been killed. Act Two However, the crew find a woman barely alive lying on the floor unconscious, her skin is covered with a mysterious energy. She does not last long, suffering from a brain hemorrhage as the energy begins to drain from her. Returning to the ship, the Enterprise is pursued by the storm. After a while, the phenomenon situates itself directly in front of the Enterprise. Act Three After it ignores a warning shot, the Enterprise fires its phasers directly upon the phenomenon. However, Kirk stops the attack once he finds out that Romaine is affected by the phaser attacks. The crew then discover that as a result of the storm, Romaine has been transformed. She now has a bizarre connection to the storm's energy, and is able to predict where it will strike next. She senses the Enterprise will next feel the storm's effects. Despite evasive maneuvers by the Enterprise, the storm enters the vessel. Once inside, the storm appears to the crew as a group of bright flashing multi-colored lights. Act Four The lights swarm on Mira and enter her body, and Doctor Leonard McCoy determines that there is no way to force the lights out without killing her. Checking through Romaine's personnel file, Spock discovers the Lieutenant has a high susceptibility to empathic transmissions, which makes her an ideal home for the lights. The lights reveal, speaking through Mira, that they are in fact non-corporeal energy beings from the dead planet, Zetar. They insist that they have the right to inhabit Romaine's body, but Montgomery Scott refuses. He places Mira in the ship's pressurization chamber and activates it. Once the Zetar are exposed to several atmospheres of pressure they expire, having become accustomed to the vacuum of space. Lieutenant Romaine is now free from the alien influence and can return to Memory Alpha to help restore the library. Log Entries * Captain's log, USS Enterprise (NCC-1701), 2269 Memorable Quotes "When a man of Scotty's years falls in love, the loneliness of his life is suddenly revealed to him. His whole heart once throbbed only to the ship's engines. He could talk only to the ship. Now he can see nothing but the woman." : - Kirk s log, on Scott and Mira "I didn't think Mister Scott would go for the brainy type." "I don't think he's even noticed she has a brain." : - Chekov and Sulu, on Scott and Mira "With a bedside manner like that, Scotty, you're in the wrong business." : - Chapel, before leaving him and Mira in sickbay "I was just checking on the lass. She's going to be fine now. There's nothing wrong with her." "Well, I'm relieved to hear your prognosis, Mister Scott. Is the doctor there with you, or will I find him in engineering?" : - Scott and Kirk, on Scott's dereliction of duty "I'd rather die than hurt you! I'd rather die!" "All right, now. What's all this talk of dying? They've called the turn on us three out of four times. Now, that's a better average than anybody deserves. It's our turn now. We'll fight them. So let's not hear anything more about dying." : - Mira and Scott, on her premonitions "Reduce the pressure very, very gradually, Spock." "We may tax Mister Scott's patience, Doctor." : - McCoy and Spock, on Mira's treatment "Now we have all the time in the world." : - Scott to Kirk, on Mira "Would either of you credit Scotty's steadfast belief in her as a factor?" "You mean, love as motivation? Humans do claim a great deal for that particular emotion. I suppose it is possible." : - Kirk and Spock, on Mira's recovery "Mister Scott, how's Lieutenant Romaine?" "Beautiful, Captain." : - Kirk and Scott "Well, this is an ''Enterprise first. Doctor McCoy, Mister Spock and Engineer Scott find themselves in complete agreement. Can I stand the strain?" : - '''Kirk' Background Information Script and production * The co-writer of this episode was the Shari Lewis of "Lambchop" fame. She was a huge fan of Star Trek and fulfilled a dream by co-writing this episode with her husband. She also wanted to play Mira Romaine, but was not cast. http://www.digitallyobsessed.com/showreview.php3?ID=2827 * When Lewis originally pitched the idea to producer Fred Freiberger, he turned it down, saying they're already working on a similar concept. When Lewis came back with another story idea, Freiberger told her that he buys the first one, because the other similar project was scratched.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p1pTcU4l8Ak&p=B2246EE90736AB16&playnext=1&index=14 * Lewis wrote the love affair of Scotty into the episode, because she thought "Captain Kirk is the one who always gets the girl".http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p1pTcU4l8Ak&p=B2246EE90736AB16&playnext=1&index=14 * In a story outline dated , Mira was Scotty's new engineering assistant and shared his fascination for machinery. Final draft script , filmed early November. * The overhead zoom shot of the bridge in the teaser was not shot for this episode. It apparently was filmed for (but not used in) . Bill Blackburn, rather than Walter Koenig, is at the Navigator station in the shot. It is noticable that he is wearing Lieutenant stripes in the shot. The crew is also noticably wearing the satin velour uniforms seen in season 1 and 2, not the nylon variety that replaced them in season 3. * There is extensive use of Alexander Courage's music from in this episode. Most notable is the piece used for the approach of the Zetarians which was scored for the "Where No Man..." scene when the Enterprise encounters the galactic barrier. Sets and props * This is the last time the emergency manual monitor and engineering sets will be used. Engineering will be seen briefly in , but this will be stock footage. * This is the only time more of Dr. McCoy's medical lab, including an antigrav tube, is seen. * The Memory Alpha monitor room was the reused control room set from . Continuity * This was John Winston's only appearance during Star Trek's final season. It is also the only episode in which he appears to feature all eight regulars, including Christine Chapel. * Additionally, this is the final episode in which we will see a Tellarite and an Andorian in TOS. * The Human-looking female Memory Alpha technician was originally scripted as being a member of a species known as the "Reidonians". http://www.fastcopyinc.com/orionpress/articles/lights_of_zetar.htm * All the scenes of Mr. Scott while Lt. Romaine is being treated in the chamber in the medical lab show him with a Sciences style chest insignia (with a stylized "globe," as Spock and Dr. McCoy would wear) as opposed to the usual "spiral" on his red duty uniform. Remastered information emblem]] "The Lights of Zetar" was the seventy-second episode of the remastered version of The Original Series to air. It premiered in syndication on the weekend of and aside from the standard CGI replacement footage of the Enterprise, this episode most notably featured new effects shots of the Zetarians and Memory Alpha, which included the appearance of the library complex, where none had appeared before. According to Michael Okuda: "Based on the size and spacing of the windows, I'd estimate that each of the domes must be similar to the ." Also, "if you look very closely at the far left dome, you might notice a small blue patch on the top of the dome. That's the Memory Alpha emblem." http://trekmovie.com/2008/06/05/preview-images-from-lights-of-zetar-remastered/ File:Zetarians engulf the Enterprise.jpg|The original Zetar attack... File:Zetarians engulf the Enterprise, remastered.jpg|...and the remastered counterpart. File:Zetarians.jpg|The original Zetar effect... File:Zetarians, remastered.jpg|...and the remastered counterpart. File:TOS generic planet 5.jpg|The original Memory Alpha approach... File:Memory Alpha.jpg|...and the remastered counterpart. File:Zetarians approaching the Enterprise.jpg|The original Zetarian/''Enterprise'' standoff... File:Zetarians approaching the Enterprise, remastered.jpg|...and the remastered counterpart. :The next remastered episode to air was . Apocrypha * The third book in Wallace Moore's "Balzan of the Cat People" pulp SF series, 1975's "The Lights of Zetar," was apparently an homage to this episode. * Star Trek Novel #42, ''Memory Prime by Gar and Judith Reeves-Stevens, continues the story of Mira on Memory Prime, the successor to Memory Alpha. Other than her romance with Scotty and a very brief mention of the Zetarians, no other story elements are carried over from the episode. * The short story "Ancient History" in the Strange New Worlds VI anthology portrayed Scotty and Captain Morgan Bateson, both catapulted into the future by their respective mishaps, meeting and hashing out, physically and verbally, old rivalries, one of which was based on the fact that Mira Romaine married Bateson after her relationship with Scotty had ended. Production Timeline * Story outline by Shari Lewis and Jeremy Tarcher, * Story outline, * Story outline, * Teleplay, * Final draft script, * Filmed in early * Original airdate, * Rerun airdate, Video and DVD releases * Original US Betamax release: . * UK VHS release (two-episode tapes, CIC Video): Volume 38, catalogue number VHR 2434, . * US VHS release: . * UK re-release (three-episode tapes, CIC Video): Volume 3.6, . * Original US DVD release (single-disc): Volume 37, . * As part of the TOS Season 3 DVD collection. * As part of the TOS-R Season 3 DVD collection. Links and References Starring * William Shatner as Capt. Kirk Also Starring * Leonard Nimoy as Mr. Spock :And: * DeForest Kelley as Dr. McCoy Guest Stars * Jan Shutan as Lt. Mira Romaine * James Doohan as Scott * George Takei as Sulu * Walter Koenig as Chekov * Nichelle Nichols as Uhura * Majel Barrett as Nurse Chapel * John Winston as Lt. Kyle * Libby Erwin as a technician Uncredited Co-Stars * Majel Barrett as the computer voice * William Blackburn as Hadley * Frank da Vinci as Brent * Roger Holloway as Roger Lemli * Jeannie Malone as Yeoman * Unknown performers as ** Alien technician ** Two Andorian technicians ** Male Human technician ** Medical lab technician References Andorian; anti-grav test unit; autonomic nervous system; atmosphere (unit); biography; brain; brain circuitry pattern (B.C.P.); brain hemorrhage; brain wave pattern; briefing room; central brain; common cold; condition yellow; emergency manual monitor; empathy; Federation; fingerprint; general quarters;hyperencephalogram; intruder alert; library; love; Martian Colony 3; medical lab; Memory Alpha; memory core; neural system; pathology; phaser; phaser tracking controls; planetoid; power generator; precognition; pressure chamber; psychological profile; psychosomatic illness; researcher; Romaine, Jacques; Romaine, Lydia; scholar; scientist; security condition three; space sickness; specialist; speed of light; starbase; Starfleet preliminary examinations; Steinman analysis; telepathy; Tellarite; universal translator; voice analysis; Zetar; Zetarians External link * |next= |lastair= |nextair= |lastair_remastered= |nextair_remastered= }} de:Strahlen greifen an es:The Lights of Zetar fr:The Lights of Zetar it:Le speranze di Zetar (episodio) ja:TOS:消滅惑星ゼータの攻撃 nl:The Lights of Zetar pl:The Lights of Zetar Lights of Zetar, The